Roll-to-roll manufacturing of electronic devices

Abstract

Roll-to-Roll (R2R) production of thin film based electronic devices (e.g. solar cells, activematrix TFT backplanes & touch screens) combine the advantages of the use of inexpensive, lightweight & flexible substrates with high throughput production. Significant cost reduction opportunities can also be found in terms of processing tool capital cost, utilized substrate area and process gas flow when compared with batch processing systems. Nevertheless, material handling, device patterning and yield issues have limited widespread utilization of R2R manufacturing within the electronics industry.